End of an era

Rob Cleveland opened Ear Wax Record Shop in 1996, with $11 in the register and hundreds of obscure rock records on the shelves.

But as of Nov. 1, as first reported on the music and culture website Tone Madison, downtown Madison’s only metal- and punk-focused record store has closed its doors. Ear Wax did business for 23 years, surviving multiple music industry shifts, from the rise of MP3 sales to the dominance of streaming platforms.

According to Cleveland, the owners of 254 W. Gilman Street declined to renew Ear Wax’s lease. Faced with declining sales and few similar, affordable spaces in town, he decided it was time to move on.

“I think it’s more work to close a business than to open one,” Cleveland says, referring to the process of closing business accounts.

Cleveland stocked the shop with merchandise partially by bartering his ever-expanding collection in person and on e-commerce sites, including Discogs and eBay. He exchanged discs across the world, as a far as Russia, according to his “various ramblings” on the Ear Wax website, which includes other fascinating tidbits from decades of record collecting.

Cleveland has great memories from Ear Wax, and especially cherishes all the bands he and his team partied with along the way. He also recounts a trip to Europe where he plunged into the continent’s rare physical music releases, bringing discs back over the pond to share with fans and collectors in Madison.

Through its Barbarian Records imprint, Ear Wax also supported local bands, including Bongzilla and Pyroklast, with physical releases; the label reissued Wisconsin band Die Kreuzen’s single “Cows and Beer,” which had been out of print for decades.

“I was able to pay my way for 20 years selling records,” Cleveland says. “But really the best thing about the shop — not to sound sappy — was all the people I met and friends I made, not only from Madison but from all over the world.”

B-Side Records, which has been on State Street since 1982, is the last remaining record shop in the downtown area.